The Next Step
by Eustacia
Summary: Continues a week after the end of the movie. Margaret and Andrew have passed the immigration test and she's got her visa. Now what? Follow them as they learn about love, life and each other.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a week since Andrew and Margaret had passed the test at the immigration center and Margaret had successfully received her fiancee visa to remain in the United States. They had decided to actually date and not move in together right away. Andrew's lease on his apartment would be up in a couple months so they would move in together at that time. Andrew took over Bob's old job as an editor and Margaret got a new assistant.

While Miss Tate was still demanding and a formidable boss, since witnessing the proposal and kiss between Miss Tate and Andrew, most folks in the office were breathing a little easier, reassured that Miss Tate did in fact have emotions and feelings, just like anybody else.

It was a week or so later when Jordan and Andrew were out getting some lunch. "So man, how's it going with Miss Tate?"

"Really good man, really good" Andrew spoke with a smile.

"How many times have you two gone out? Or are you having your dates while working here extended hours?" Jordan asked.

"Uh nothing here man, strictly professional while we're here. I've taken her out four or five times after work though, and we hung out at her place this past weekend."

"Any action man?" Jordon asked with a smirk. "I have a feeling she'd be wild in the sheets."

Andrew looked visibly perturbed. "That's none of your business Jordan. What I do or don't do with my girl is private. Margaret would freak if she knew the subject even came up."

"You always told me before Andrew. You told me about the girl you met at the gym last year."

Andrew sighed, "that's different, that was a fling. Margaret and I are engaged and I love her. I'm not going to betray her trust by sharing anything about that part of our lives with anyone, especially anyone she works with. C'mon man."

"Ok man, I respect that… I figure from the kiss we all witnessed that she's a damn good kisser. Just tell me this- she doesn't boss you around on her off time too does she? Is she gonna let you hang out with the guys?"

Andrew thought about it for a brief second. In the time they had spent together since being engaged for real, she was actually quite calm and affectionate. Something none of his coworkers would probably ever believe if he told them, but she was a tactile person. She liked holding hands and snuggling. She also liked to let him make many of the decisions on where they ate or what movie they watched. There were moments of course, where she was the one in control or they would come to a compromise, but most of the time she seemed content to relinquish the reins of control during her off time that she had to maintain during business hours. She had told him it was nice not to have to make all the decisions for once.

"I don't see why she wouldn't let me hang out with all you guys still. And no, she doesn't boss me around when we're together outside work. C'mon, we should head back, I need to stop by the sandwich place on the way back though." Andrew stated. Margaret had a meeting and so wouldn't have time to go get lunch today, he wanted to make sure she got something to eat.

"You still hungry?"

"Nah, but Margaret has a meeting and won't get lunch so I wanna bring her something."

"That's cool. It's still hard for me to picture you two sometimes, after the years we spent as her slaves and the trash you and I talked about her. You must have really seen a different side of her on your little Alaska adventure for your feelings to change that much." Jordan commented as they walked back to work with Andrew after picking up some lunch to take back to Miss Tate. Jordan still called her Miss Tate and he was only starting to get used to Andrew referring to her by her first name.

"I really did. It felt like I got to see the real her. Especially when I got to see her interact with my family… she was out of her element, and at first I thought it was fun to watch her struggling to know what to say. She's always so in control here ya know? But there was nothing she could control there and so the real her came out… We had some really good talks each night too" he looked over and saw the look of mild disbelief on Jordan's face.

Andrew decided that his friend would just have to see Margaret for himself sometime off hours, maybe he'd invite him over some night when he and Margaret were just hanging out and making dinner together. Something simple.

They arrived back at the office and Andrew went into Margaret's office to drop off the sandwich and leave her a note. "Here is some lunch, wanna get together tonight?" was all the note said. He nodded at her new assistant, who already looked stressed, as he walked back to his own office to finish up some manuscripts. It was about an hour later when he got an instant message from her thanking him, that she had been starving. And that yes, she wanted to hang out tonight, maybe his place while he still had a "his place". He smiled and replied to the instant message that his place sounded good, then went back to work.

One of the submitted manuscripts he was looking through was a love story with some rather racy scenes and it made him think of Margaret and the question that Jordan had asked him during lunch. He and Margaret had not had intercourse yet, even though they spent the entire weekend at her place last weekend. He wasn't sure if her not having slept with a man in the last year and a half really was due to her being very busy or if she had some kind of issues going on about sex, so he didn't want to rush her. They had both slept in her bed but had done nothing more than snuggling and kissing, which he rather enjoyed and she seemed to have liked as well. It was comfortable. He wanted her to know that he didn't expect sex just because they were in bed together. Would he like to go further with her? Absolutely, he was a man after all. A man that had seen, and felt, her naked body against him in Alaska when they collided in the bedroom. He thought back to the morning at his parent's house in which she wanted him to spoon her and then was shocked by his morning erection. That scene had been replayed at her apartment last Sunday morning. She had felt it and simply said, "Morning Andrew" and then giggled, also remembering her reaction in Alaska. They had kissed some and then gotten up to start the day. And yes Jordan, he thought, she is a very good kisser.

Andrew decided to set that manuscript aside and look at another…less distracting one.

Margaret missed having Andrew as her assistant. The new guy, Marc, was trying but just wasn't filling Andrew's shoes- at least not yet. Andrew kept telling her to give Marc a chance, that it wasn't easy for a new person to learn her many intricacies. At the time she had been a little offended by his comment, but the look he gave her when he could tell that she was about to go on a rant slowed her down. He reminded her about her recent ploy to force him to marry her and how he was expected to roll with it. He asked her how on earth she expected a new assistant to be at that level so early in the working relationship. She smiled now thinking about her response to him. That she hoped she never had to pretend anything to that extent with Marc, she had something far better with Andrew that was grounded in reality.

It was 5:30pm and her stomach loudly reminded her that it was dinner time and time for her to head over to Andrew's place. She put on her nice jacket as it was getting cold in New York City. When she stepped out of her office to head that direction, she saw Marc jump up from his desk to ask if she needed anything.

"Were you working on something or just sitting here in case I needed something?" she asked him.

He looked like he wasn't sure what answer she wanted to hear, "Uh, Miss Tate, I just wanted to make sure that you um… that you didn't need anything else."

Is this what I drive people to do, she wondered. Do I drive people to just sit here waiting past the end of their normal working day just in case I request something? Geez, I really am a bitch. She stared at him while she thought about this revelation, and he began to sweat and fidget.

"Marc, what I need from you is to just work your timed shift. Go home. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early. Good night." She stared at him until he jumped and began gathering his things to leave, she then headed to the elevators as well.

Andrew had given his apartment a quick scan to make sure there wasn't dirty underwear laying around and no big messes. He was good to go and had ordered some pizza for their dinner. The pizza would be here any minute but he wasn't sure where Margaret was. That question was quickly answered when he heard the doorbell and opened it to discover the pizza man as well as Margaret- staring a hole through the pizza boxes. He knew she must be hungry and that the pizza wouldn't last long. That was another thing he had discovered about Margaret, she loved food. She liked fancy dinners but she was just as happy with a bowl of cereal or a pizza.

By the time he paid the pizza guy and got out the plates and drinks, she was back from the bathroom in some exercise leggings and a plain white t-shirt. She had only a pair of white socks on her feet and her hair was down from the ponytail she had worn to work. She looked very comfy and settled on the couch next to him. He handed her a plate with a slice of pizza and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth.

"Hi there" he charmingly stated with a smile.

"Hello" she replied with a grin of her own, then dug into the pizza with gusto. They talked a little about work, but were mostly still trying to learn new things about each other.

"Do you like hotdogs? I mean, the ones that are sold in the little hot dog carts all over the place here?" she asked him in between pieces of pizza.

"Yeah, I like those. They remind me of the BBQ's we had when I was a kid. You?"

"Oh yeah, I love 'em. What do you put on yours? I like just ketchup on mine. I actually had to run home during lunch once because I spilled some on my blouse!" Margaret announced with glee, glad she had someone to tell quirky little stories to finally.

"And you gave poor Jordan the death glare over the shirt he was wearing, that I spilled coffee on?! Why Margaret, you are a hypocrite!" Andrew commented jokingly. "And I like everything on my hotdogs."

They continued to chat about some of the things that had been asked at the immigration interview, comparing answers given with the real answers and laughing at some of the lucky guesses and some of the far off the mark answers each of them gave. At some point a movie had been put on and they sat closely together on the couch to watch. When Margaret scooted in closer and leaned her head on Andrew's shoulder, he wrapped the arm closest to her around her back and pulled her towards him a little closer. In some of their talks he had learned that having to keep up the strict professional boss role all day sometimes took a heavy toll on her. Clearly today was one of those days, she was now asleep and snuggled into his side and it was only 8pm. He continued to watch the movie that was on and had just got up to use the restroom when there was a knock on the door. He looked at his watch, it was now only 8:45 and then he remembered that usually on Wednesdays he would play a little basketball with Jordan and some of the other guys at the gym down the street. They usually started around 8:30pm.

He quietly walked to the door since Margaret was still asleep on the couch, and answered the door. As he expected, there was Jordan in his gym gear wanting to know why he was late. Jordan started to pull him out the door when Andrew protested.

"Hey hey hey" he whispered. "I forgot, I'm sorry. I can't go tonight."

"Why are you whispering man, c'mon let's go." Jordan moved to grab Andrew's arm and pull him out the door. When Andrew resisted again, he looked at him for an explanation. Andrew simply pointed to his couch.

There Jordan saw Miss Tate, the most relaxed he had ever seen her, asleep in gym type attire on Andrew's couch. He looked closer and decided that yes, she really was a beautiful woman, even more so than when she was at work- where he still feared her. But seeing her sleeping, with all her guards down made her seem more like a person somehow. More like somebody that he could see his friend genuinely cared for.

"Ah, sorry man. That's cool." Jordan whispered back. "Is she spending the night here? And on a work night, Andrew you dog! Although, it doesn't look like any action tonight." he said quietly.

Andrew just lightly glared at him, "Jordan! Stop with the comments okay. Believe it or not, they hurt her, and I don't want to see her upset. I'll play with you guys next week okay?"

"Okay, sorry again man. Old habits die hard, but I'll work on it okay. See ya tomorrow at work" and with that, Jordan was off to join the other guys at the gym and Andrew returned to the couch.

He wondered if Margaret was intending to stay the night here. They had never done that before, not on a work night. He gently shook her shoulder.

"Margaret…Margaret" he said quietly. She mumbled something and snuggled deeper into the couch. Andrew was thinking about either leaving her on the couch or carrying her to the bed, but he wasn't sure if she had work clothes at his place or in her office to change into in the morning.

"Margaret…are you staying here tonight? Margaret?" This time she woke up enough to mumble more coherently, "bed…sleep in your bed." And then she was asleep again. With the decision apparently made, he slowly lifted her and brought her to his bed where she migrated to the left side of the bed on autopilot, but not before grabbing his pillow and hugging it in her sleep. He watched her for a few seconds and then went to clean up their dinner plates. Since he wasn't tired quite yet, he got a little more reading done of one of several manuscripts he was editing. Around 10pm, he changed into a pair of sweats and joined Margaret in bed. She rolled towards him and laid her head on his chest and fell back to sleep. Andrew smiled and kissed the top of her head before falling asleep himself after making sure to set the alarm.

It was about 5am and Margaret had been getting up at that time for so long that her body just naturally woke up. It took her a second to remember where she was. Once she realized she was at Andrew's, she relaxed and scooted backwards towards him. That was when she felt that a certain part of his body was awake, even if he did not appear to be. Instead of scooting away, she scooted into it and just enjoyed the feeling as his erection pressed against her through her clothes. Before long she found herself gently rotating her hips in order to cause even more friction for herself. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the slow build up of her arousal.

It wasn't long after that Andrew woke up, at first he wasn't sure what had woke him up but it took his body all of 5 seconds to let him in on the heavenly sensations he was feeling. He realized that it was Margaret, that she was gently rubbing herself against his now very hard erection. He couldn't hold in the quiet groan.

Upon hearing his groan, Margaret debated if she should continue her motions or not, but it felt so good and had been so long since she had been this close with a man. She heard Andrew's voice from behind her.

"Don't stop Margaret, it's okay, we're both enjoying it. Just go with it." He said while lightly panting.

She decided to throw caution to the wind and just go with it, it did feel exceptional after all. As she mentally dropped her barriers she let out a moan of her own and reached back for Andrew's hand, entwining their fingers. She brought both their hands to her stomach on top of her t-shirt and released his hand, gently pushing it upwards as hers descended towards the vee between her legs.

Andrew tried to control himself as he realized what she was doing and what she had given him unspoken permission to do. He adjusted himself in order to press against her at a better angle and took the invitation she had given him. He slowly moved his hands across her ribcage and up her side. Just that got another moan from her so he did it again before slowly moving towards her breast. He gently cupped her breast through her shirt and could feel her hardened nipples through her shirt and bra. He peeked over her shoulder at her face. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open, panting light rhythmic puffs of air. He followed her arm with his eyes and groaned as he saw her using two of her fingers to massage herself and he could see his own erection through his sweatpants pressing against her slightly below where she was rubbing herself. Just witnessing her in this way was almost more than he could take, he knew he was close and struggled to think of anything else in order to make the situation last longer. He was startled when she suddenly bent her top leg at the hip, in essence opening herself up and her breathing became quick and erratic.

"Andrew!" she gasped as he pressed against her at just the right angle. She could feel herself getting closer to what promised to be a powerful orgasm. She felt his fingers gently but quickly rubbing over her nipples. All the sensations combined set her off. She froze momentarily before her whole body began shuddering. She couldn't control the release of moans and pants as Andrew kept up the stimulation with his fingers and further below. "Oh my God…Andrew…" she panted.

Upon seeing her in the throes of her release, he couldn't hold back any longer. He pumped himself quickly against her still shuddering body until he reached his own release, holding her close against him and panting into her ear.

"Sweet Jesus Margaret" he said in awe after they had both caught their breathes. Margaret's response was to roll over on top of him and kiss him for all she was worth.

"Good Morning" she said with an impish grin. She sat up on his waist and looked at him. He was still slightly flushed and he looked sexy as hell. Too bad they had to get moving if they wanted to make it into work on time.

"Well good morning to you as well." He grinned. He was in heaven, I guess it was true- when you're in love everything just seems better, he thought. He couldn't wait to experience her skin to skin, to be able to see her face and look into her eyes when he made love to her. He could tell when her mind clicked over into work mode. Her face turned more serious and her head tilted to the left as she looked over at her purse.

"I need to get home and get some clothes. I uh… I didn't plan this, I don't have any clothes with me…well except these that I used for pajamas, but not exactly work clothes" she said as she glanced down at her current outfit.

He sat up with her still in his lap and kissed her quickly on the lips. "Tell you what, you head home and do what you need to do, I'll shower and get dressed and see you in the office…with your unsweetened cinnamon light soy latte" he added with a grin.

She laughed, a real laugh, and he laughed along with her. "Okay, sounds like a plan." She gave him another quick peck on the lips then climbed off the bed.

It was about 35 minutes later when Andrew arrived in the office with two coffees in hand. He said good morning to Marc as he passed him sitting at his old desk. "I'm just gonna leave this in her office" he said to Marc, who nodded but looked a little confused none the less. Marc stopped him as he came back out, "Um, excuse me, Mr. Paxton? Was I supposed to bring Miss Tate's coffee?"

Andrew really did feel for the guy, after all, he'd been there himself, trying to figure how to "assist" the executive he'd been assigned to. "You know what, why don't you ask her when she comes in. I just brought this in today."

"Uh, sure thing Mr. Paxton. I'll do that, thanks."

Andrew continued on to his office and settled down at his desk, unable to stop thinking about how he woke up this morning. He worked with a smile on his face all day which did not go un-noticed by his friend Jordan.

Margaret arrived 30 minutes after Andrew. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood. She half-smiled at Marc as she entered her office to see him waiting for her there with a stack of papers in his hands. She saw the coffee sitting on her desk, read the note a let loose a full smile. She noticed that Marc had not said anything yet.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"Miss Tate, am I supposed to bring in your coffee each morning? It's just that Mr. Paxton used to be your assistant and…"

"Marc stop. I'll bring in my own coffee, okay? Don't stress over something like that." She wondered what Andrew must have thought of her back in the early days of his stint as her assistant, especially the few times she had called him in the middle of the night to run and get her some tampons. My goodness, she thought, I've been doing things myself since was 16, when did I become dependent on others to do simple things like that for me. Once again she was faced with why the people that worked for her thought she was a 'poisonous bitch' as Bob had stated. She'd have to work on that image, but only a little, she was still their boss and they needed to know that.

"Okay Miss Tate. I'll just go answer the phone." And he bolted back to his desk, not quite sure what to make of her reaction to the coffee that had been waiting for her. He did what everyone else in the office did when they had a question, they IM'd everyone in the office.

"Is Miss Tate addicted to coffee? She seemed extremely happy to see it this morning…" his co-workers all saw pop up on their screens.

Upon seeing that, Jordan came to one conclusion. He got up and went to Andrew's office. "No way man!" he said with excitement.

"huh?" Andrew replied with a blank stare.

"Clearly something happened between you and Miss Tate. You can't stop smiling and she was very happy to see the coffee that YOU brought her this morning." Jordan stated.

Andrew tried to think quickly about how to respond, Margaret would kill him if he told Jordan anything, but denying it might look suspicious as well. His 'deer in the headlights' look was enough for Jordan to confirm that something had happened. He just didn't know what.

"Well it's good things are going well man. I know you're not gonna share any details, but it's nice to see you both a bit more relaxed and happy. " Jordan stated and walked out of the office back to his own desk.


	2. Chapter 2

The next Wednesday, as promised, Andrew went down to the local gym to play basketball with the guys. It was there that he got even more questions about his relationship with Margaret. While Jordan had respected his wishes and sincerely wished them the best, some of the other guys from the office still saw Margaret as their boss and a little bit of a bitch and were looking for something they might be able to use, or simply wanted some gossip. Andrew decided he really needed to plan an evening at his place with the guys, maybe some cards and beer and invite Margaret along. He intended to be with her for the long haul and his friends needed to see the side of her that he fell in love with, or he'd never hear the end of the invasive questions.

"You can't tell me you guys aren't having sex man, you've come in to work together a couple mornings over the last week. Clearly you're spending the nights together…" his friend Kyle put out there.

"So how is she? I bet she's wild" Steve commented.

"No way, I bet she can't lose that hold on the control at all…or maybe you're into that kinda thing, huh Andy?" teased Jon.

"Hey! Guys, that's our boss we're talking about, geez. Have some respect" Jordan spoke up.

"Thank you." Andrew quietly spoke to Jordan and did his best to just ignore the questions and comments. He knew Margaret would be devastated if she knew that these guys who worked for her talked about her like this. He hoped that when he invited them over, they wouldn't be that crude. He and Margaret had not slept together, besides being physically next to each other in the same bed, yet. Andrew was okay with that. He knew that she would give him a sign when she was ready. She had explained to him that she didn't want to rush into that part of their relationship, as she had been hurt in the past that way. He understood that, especially with her parents passing away when she was sixteen, she had trust issues. And he knew that for her, trusting someone with her whole body and her heart was a huge deal. He wondered what she was doing right then. He was so distracted thinking about her that he missed the hand signals Kyle had been giving to let him know the basketball was coming his way. The ball rebounded off his shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

"What were you thinking about dude? You were off in your own world there man." Kyle extended a hand to help him up while the other guys continued down the court with the ball.

Andrew blushed, but answered the question. His friends needed to know how much in love he was with Miss Margaret Tate. "Uh, Margaret. I was just wondering what she was doing right now."

"Wow man, you've got it really bad for her." Kyle realized. He himself was married and recognized the look on Andrews face as the same one he wore for his wife of two years. "You sure she feels the same way?"

"So far, yes, it would appear that she does."

Meanwhile…

Margaret was at her own apartment, trying to make room in her closets and on the walls so Andrew would have room for his stuff and that the apartment would feel like his as well. She wanted him to be able to hang things on the wall that he liked. They had a little over a month to get him all moved in here before his lease expired. She had been doing a little each night to make room for him at her place whenever she actually spent the evenings there. She had ordered the installation of a closet organizer so that her stuff could be condensed without being too crowded or messy. So her half, well a little more than half, was all set up. She wondered if Andrew would come over after he played basketball or if he would just go spend the night at his place. She hoped he came over and spent the night, she liked snuggling with him before she fell asleep each night. She would go on the assumption that he wasn't since it hadn't really been discussed. Although they had exchanged keys, so he could just come over she supposed.

She decided she had time for a quick run on her treadmill before she went to bed. She changed into a black sports bra and some running leggings and shoes. She set up one the manuscripts that she had to read on the treadmill and started running, turning on some loud music that was good to run to. While some would have found it distracting to have loud music on while reading, it didn't bother her at all. She jogged for about 45 minutes and then shut the treadmill down and started to stretch and cool down. The music was still blaring and so she didn't hear the door open. She was singing along with "Get Low". It always made her laugh, thinking of chanting that particular song in the woods of Alaska with Gammy.

Andrew could hear the music before he even got to the front door. He had decided to bring Jordan over, just for a moment since Jordan lived somewhat nearby. Jordan's place was not near as nice as Margaret's, but then, neither was Andrew's. After they had gotten off the elevator, Jordan looked confused as Andrew headed to the apartment playing loud music that there was no way he could picture Miss Tate listening to. When Andrew recognized the song, he chuckled, which confused Jordan even more. Jordan was reminded of how in love his friend was with the woman inside the apartment when Andrew produced his own key to her apartment.

"Stay just inside the door for a moment, let me tell her you're here." Andrew said quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the music. Jordan could hear Miss Tate's voice singing along with the song and he just could not imagine how much of herself she didn't show at work. Clearly Andrew was right, she had to act professionally at work, but it was nice to imagine that his friend had not fallen for a robot, as she was often called at work.

Andrew walked into the living room where he knew Margaret must be working out if the music was this loud. He came upon her bent over at the waist and reaching for her toes. He reached out and gave her butt a light pat.

She screamed. "Oh my God…Andrew, you scared me." She reached over and turned down the volume, then leaned in to share a kiss with Andrew. "Hey, I'm glad you're here. You're planning on spending the night right? I cleared out some more space in the closet for you, you'll have to let me know if you need some more though." She gave him another kiss.

Andrew chuckled at her girly screams. "Now, what level of scared were you…did I scare you as much as…Kevin?" he asked with a smirk, remembering her fear of the tiny fluffy dog.

"Ha ha. I was just gonna go shower and get ready for bed, but if you wanna watch a movie or whatever, I'm okay with that." She replied.

"Actually, I brought a friend with me. He's just here briefly, but he lived nearby so I gave him a ride this far after we played basketball…uh, you know him." He could see her trying to figure out who it was. She scanned the area behind him but couldn't see anybody. He was a little unsure how she would react to him bringing someone to her apartment without calling first to give her a heads up. If he had learned anything from being her assistant for three years, it was that she wasn't particularly fond of surprises. Too bad his phone battery had died.

"Andrew, did you make them wait outside? Hang on, let me put a shirt on…" she started to walk towards her bedroom, which required her to pass the foyer. Andrew reached out to try and get her arm, but she was already jogging toward her room.

"Margaret! He's in the…" he didn't get the whole sentence out before she was already passing through the foyer and she stopped, seeing someone out of the corner of her eye.

Jordan had stood just out of sight in the foyer, listening to their conversation and shaking his head at how relaxed and happy they both sounded. He could hear the affection they harbored for each other in their voices. He heard footsteps approaching and something about needing to put on a shirt. My God, he thought, what is she wearing? Not wanting to lose his job, he quickly put his hands over his eyes and turned so his back was to the majority of the room. He figured he must have been spotted as the footsteps came to a stop about 5 feet from where he stood.

"Jordan?" Margaret wasn't sure which emotion was winning, the one that wanted to be embarrassed for being in her sports bra with an employee in her house, or the one that was trying hard not to laugh at Jordan and his "monkey see no evil" stance. He looked like a boy in time out.

Jordan briefly wondered if he could disappear, he still didn't know what she was wearing, only that she had a desire to put on a shirt. He figured there was no way out of the awkward situation, so he may as well turn around.

"Good evening Miss Tate" he said as he turned. Then he got a look at her. Wow, he thought, she is gorgeous. He suddenly found himself jealous of his friend Andrew. He noticed that she was slightly blushing but trying hard to look as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Well good evening to you too Jordan. I guess it was inevitable that we would meet in some kind of social situation. Please, call me Margaret…but only outside work, understand? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab a shirt and be right back."

Jordan watched her as she walked off towards what he assumed was her bedroom. He walked towards Andrew shaking his head. "Damn man…just…damn" and patted Andrew on the back. He then started looking around the apartment that his boss lived in. It was simple, elegant and surprisingly colorful. He never would have pegged her for having yellow walls. He saw the treadmill she must have been using, as well as the manuscript on top of the controls for it. No wonder she got through them so quickly, if she could read while she was running, nobody had a shot at keeping up with her reading speeds.

Margaret arrived back in the living room, now with a t-shirt on. "So…this is my place…soon to be Andrew's as well. Would you like something to drink?"

Jordan glanced at Andrew, who had remained quiet thus far. "Uh, I think I'm good. I should probably head home, I just wanted to stop by. I'm sure you're right Miss Ta…uh, Margaret, we'll probably be seeing each other outside of work in the near future. In fact, when is the big moving day? You guys need any help, you throwing a moving party? You know, everybody comes and helps move your stuff Andrew, then we hang out here afterwards with pizza and beer…" Jordan was really trying to extend the olive branch of friendship with Margaret, he could see how important that was to his friend.

Andrew spoke up, "Huh, we really haven't thought of that. That does sound more fun than standing here supervising strangers to move my stuff. What do you think?"

Margaret could see that both Andrew and Jordan were trying to include her and really appreciated that. She really had forgotten what it was like to have friends and was looking forward to being included in a group again. "That actually does sound fun. We'll pick a day and let you know Jordan. Sometime in the next two weeks though, so that we can still get the cleaners into your apartment before your lease is up Andrew."

Andrew was glad that Margaret had accepted Jordan's proposal. It did sound like fun. He was glad that Jordan really was making an effort, just as he said he would. He would have to thank him tomorrow at work.

With that decided, Jordan said his goodbyes and walked himself out to head home. Andrew looked towards Margaret to see that she was smiling. "What's the smile for?" he asked.

She paused and simply said, "moving day."


End file.
